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Leadership

Meet the Team

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Carrie Scrimshire | CEO

Carrie Scrimshire is the Executive Director of Gilead House in Novato, a fundamental program to inspire hope and empower homeless single moms and their children toward financial stability and independence. Carrie’s professional goal is to take Gilead House to the next level in the housing of families, both in increasing the number of locations and furthering education. She is an avid learner and believes every single person benefits by education and continuous learning.

Personally, Carrie loves to cook. Her passion is expanding her knowledge of healthy, fusion-style cooking with multi-cultural dishes such as French, Mexican, Spanish, Thai, Peruvian, Greek, and Indian. No challenge is too difficult for her.   She also loves animals. Saint Francis is her favorite saint because he looks out for and protects animals. One of her long-term goals is to design an animal sanctuary where abused and neglected animals can live out their days in a loving peaceful environment.  A random fun fact about Carrie is she flew a small plane over two Hawaiian islands (Maui and Lanai) with no flight experience whatsoever.

She loves people, laughter, hard work and has a great sense of humor. Her personality is magnetic and she always finds the good in everyone.

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Jenny Craig | Operations Manager

Jenny Craig is the mom to 2 amazing sons.  Jenny is local to Novato, a graduate of Novato High and College of Marin.  She has also competed 200 hours of Yoga teaching at Red Dragon Yoga studio.  Jenny believes her unique balance of education has helped her get through life. 

 

Jenny loves to create, anything from organic cooking to sewing a new top to fixing the plumbing at Gilead House.  Almost every weekend you will find Jenny and her sons enjoying the great outdoors, whether it is a bike ride, hiking, gardening, or coming up with a new organic juice or smoothie recipe. 

Jenny strives to help single moms, her passion clearly aligns with the Gilead House mission.  Jenny’s favorite quote is:  

 

You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending. 

-- C.S. Lewis  

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Dena Josephs| Case Manager

Dena Josephs has many years of experience and is skilled with Client Advocacy, Case Planning and
Management, Life Skills Coaching and Community Client Relations, as well as Interagency Partnerships and Referrals. Dena is a certified AOD Counselor with other certifications in Seeking Safety, SMART Recovery and as a Peer Specialist Facilitator.

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In her spare time, Dena can be found in her vegetable garden and planning her future permaculture
farm in Oregon, having an associate degree in Sustainable Living, “Practices and Principles of Organic Farming” from College of Marin. Dena’s life passion is empowering individuals and families experiencing life’s challenges and is eager to support the Gilead House’s mission and spirit of empowerment.

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Kim Litwicki | Social Media & Content Manager

Bio coming soon

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Morgaine Breimayer | Website Strategy Manager

Bio coming soon

Board of Directors

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Paul Breimayer | President & Treasurer

Paul brings over 30 years of experience as a Certified Public Accountant and Chief Financial  

Officer beginning with 10 years as an auditor with the international accounting firm, KPMG.  This was followed by various management-level finance positions in companies both large and small as well as experience in small business consulting.  Paul is still active as the CFO of a San Francisco-based mortgage bank and is a board member of 2 other Marin-based charitable organizations.    

 

In his spare time, Paul enjoys triathlons, mountain biking, and trail running. He and his wife have lived in Novato for over 25 years. 

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Wendy Day | Secretary

Born and raised in the East Bay, Wendy is a proud mother to two beautiful adult children and a passionate life coach under her brand Wendy Day Coaching. She studied business at Diablo Valley College, along with Creative Writing, and worked in the restaurant industry for many years. Wendy has over 20 years of experience working with individuals and groups empowering them to reach their goals and create the lives they want. As a motivational and team leader with Weight Watchers International, she supported thousands of women in losing weight and transforming their lives. She has recently completed several certifications for life coaching under the Robbins-Madanes trainings. 

 

Wendy loves to help people, especially women, look and feel great, as well as to live the lives they truly want. She strives to be the living embodiment of what she teaches people: to live healthy, fulfilling lives with courage, confidence, love and resolve. She has a passion for fashion, and as a fashion coach, has helped many women clean out their closets and re-invent themselves from the inside out. Wendy’s mission in life to serve purpose-driven individuals and organizations to thrive in style (and with love) is what brought her to Gilead House to work with the amazing women there.

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Clark Blasdell | Board Member

Clark has been the President/ CEO of Northbay Family Homes (NFH) and Suburban Alternative Land Trust (SALT) since 1978. As the founder of these organizations, Clark has over 40 years of public and private real estate industry experience. Both organizations have been centric to policy making and developing affordable housing projects in and around the North Bay.  Clark’s extensive knowledge and expertise in this area support our Board of Directors in navigating and setting criteria to determine which affordable housing projects are the best match for Gilead House recipients.  Clark has always been involved in his community, supporting local events, non-profits, local businesses and low income housing.  He was instrumental is the development of the Hamilton Housing Project in Novato.  He was a long-time member of North Bay Leadership Council and continues his membership in the Novato Chamber of Commerce, active in their Leadership Novato Program.  Since 2001 representing the North Bay Council, Clark has been a member of the Marin Economic Commission.

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Gary Belford | Board Member

Gary is a 40+ year resident of Marin County. A business consultant serving several local clients, he has been active in advancing literacy programs as a volunteer for Friends of the Marin County Library, an advocate for children through his work with Big Brothers and Sisters, and is currently on the board for Autos For Animals, a non-profit that provides emergency funding for veterinary services for seniors.

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Carrie Scrimshire | Ex-Officio

Carrie Scrimshire is the Executive Director of Gilead House in Novato, a fundamental program to inspire hope and empower homeless single moms and their children toward financial stability and independence. Carrie’s professional goal is to take Gilead House to the next level in the housing of families, both in increasing the number of locations and furthering education. She is an avid learner and believes every single person benefits by education and continuous learning.

Personally, Carrie loves to cook. Her passion is expanding her knowledge of healthy, fusion-style cooking with multi-cultural dishes such as French, Mexican, Spanish, Thai, Peruvian, Greek, and Indian. No challenge is too difficult for her.   She also loves animals. Saint Francis is her favorite saint because he looks out for and protects animals. One of her long-term goals is to design an animal sanctuary where abused and neglected animals can live out their days in a loving peaceful environment.  A random fun fact about Carrie is she flew a small plane over two Hawaiian islands (Maui and Lanai) with no flight experience whatsoever.

She loves people, laughter, hard work and has a great sense of humor. Her personality is magnetic and she always finds the good in everyone.

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Tracy Hoffman Grubb | Advisory Board Member

Tracy brings over 35 years of expertise from the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors drawing from roles in global product and project management leadership, business development, cross-franchise marketing and leadership training.   As a long-time leader and advocate for corporate engagement and mentoring initiatives, Tracy also led the development efforts for a nonprofit education program that successfully recruited and matched STEM leaders virtually throughout the Bay Area alongside 9th grade students struggling in Alegbra.   

 

Tracy is also actively engaged with Guide Dogs for the Blind for which she socializes puppies and alongside her husband, David Grubb Jr., and their four daughters, are custodial parents for breeder Golden Retriever, Missouri.   Tracy is also a docent with San Francisco City Guides leading talks on Victorian architecture throughout some of the City's most architecturally colorful neighborhoods.

 

Her journey toward nonprofit work was inspired by her passion to engage and build sustainable corporate, foundation, and individual partnerships essential in a thriving community with opportunities for all.  

 

In her spare time, Tracy studies healing harp in San Francisco, cheering on her beloved Patriots and Red Sox and spending relaxing time at a local community organic garden plot she tends alongside her husband.

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